Dinner Expectations
by Hihintayin Kita
Summary: Flynn/Raydor. Just two people getting ready for a dinner, maybe with some high hopes and expectations for the night. Fluff.


Sharon held another dress against her frame as she studied herself in the mirror. She hadn't planned on going out tonight. With Rusty over at a friend's house for the night, she had planned on cleaning the condo or catching up on her reading. What she hadn't expected was a dinner invitation from Andy. _Andy. When did he become Andy instead of Lieutenant Flynn?_ She pouted and laid the dress back down on her bed before picking up another dress. Her bed was riddled with dresses of various colors; some she wore to work, some she saved for going out or formal occasions. There was one dress on the corner of her bed, one she hadn't worn in a long time. She tilted her head as she looked at the details of the dress, wondering how Andy would react to it. Her fingers glided over the smooth red silk material, wondering how Andy's hands would feel on them. The one shoulder strap would have left her shoulder bare and she closed her eyes at the thought of Andy's hand on it.

She sighed and abruptly withdrew her hands. She draped the dress on the back of her chaise and sat on the foot of her bed.

_Why am I getting all worked up for this? I'm just being foolish_.

Sharon started fiddling with her hands as her thoughts went back to their last dinner outing. _Admit it, though. Despite how crazy you two are, he kind of likes being with you too. Yes, it was a disaster with his family and their thinking I was his girlfriend, but he was sorry about that. _

She reached for the more conservative purple dress with 3/4 sleeves before looking at the red dress again.

"I'm crazy," she murmured to herself as she got up and retrieved the dress. She headed to her bathroom and proceeded to get ready for her evening with Andy.

Andy perused his closet one more time, trying to find the right shirt to wear with his navy blue pinstripe suit. He pulled out his long sleeved white shirt, his cream shirt, and then a light blue shirt before shucking the idea of wearing his navy blue suit altogether. He pulled out one of his favorite black suits along with a long sleeved navy blue shirt. He'd forego the tie for tonight — ties reminded him too much of work and that wasn't what he wanted it to feel like when he was with Sharon.

Sharon. He couldn't remember when he'd starting thinking of her as Sharon instead of Captain Raydor. He just knew that sometime around Nicole's wedding, she'd become something more than a colleague. Someone important to him. Someone…he could actually see spending time with.

Hell, when he asked her out to dinner earlier, the last thing he expected from her was a yes. He psyched himself to believed that she wouldn't, that she probably doesn't want to go to another dinner with him after the last one went so wrong. No matter how many times he apologized for blindsiding her with his family's assumptions and she accepted his apology, he still felt guilty as hell.

He gathered his black leather shoes from the bottom of his closet before and placed them by his bed. Making sure everything was out and prepared, he headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. The closer he got to the bathroom door, the more he thought about how absurd he was in thinking there could ever be a future with him and Sharon together.

"Stupid idiot," he murmured to himself as he got in the shower.

It was at exactly 7:30 when Andy rang her doorbell. He brought her a beautiful phalaenopsis orchid — roses were kind of cheesy and he felt that Sharon deserved more than a random bouquet selected from the grocery store. Even though he did find the orchid at Whole Foods, he thought it would make a nice addition for her table — elegant and beautiful, but not so extravagant. Like her.

Sharon hurried over to the door, clutching her small purse and heels. She slipped on her heels and checked herself in the hallway mirror before opening the door.

"Andy, hi," Sharon greeted him.

"Hi," Andy had lost his ability to speak coherent sentences when she opened the door. When he saw her, his jaw wanted to drop to the floor. She had on this red silky number with only one strap, along with black heels that made her legs go on forever. Her curled hair was left down and swept to one side and she had the most beautiful smile as she waited for him to speak up.

_Oh shit, that's right_. "I, uh, I got this for you."

She took the proffered orchid and moved to put it in the middle of her dining table.

"Oh, thank you," she gently touched the flowers before turning back to him. "It's beautiful, I love orchids. But…you know you didn't have to do that."

With his hands in his pocket, he simply shrugged while shaking his head. "I wanted to. I should be so lucky, I'm amazed that you'd want to be seen in public with me."

Her heart went out to him. He will never let himself forget how badly their last dinner went and she had this distinct feeling that Andy thought she wanted to distance herself from him. It was the last thing she wanted to do to him; talk about where they stood, yes, but ignore? She couldn't. Sharon walked up to him and smiled before leaning forward to place a chaste kiss on his cheek. When she pulled away his face remained impassive; her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion and, immediately after, embarrassment.

"I—I'm sorry," she quickly turned away to grab her clutch by the door. "That was presumptuous of me, I shouldn't have. We should go."

She felt his hand on her shoulder and she closed her eyes to fight the slight shiver that threatened to course through her. She didn't — couldn't — turn around and face Andy. She felt too embarrassed and foolish to look him in the eye. _How am I going to get through dinner?_

"Don't," he whispered. "Don't be embarrassed or ashamed, please? Sharon?"

Sharon turned, but still didn't look at him. She looked for invisible lint on her dress, plucking away or smoothing her dress. She desperately wished she had a sweater with pockets with her.

He noticed her fidgeting and grasped both of her hands in his. "Sharon, look at me."

"Sorry," she shook her head before looking up at him. "I got ahead of myself. I shouldn't have done that."

"Maybe it was okay that you did. Maybe I liked it," he let go of one hand to cradle her head, his thumb lightly sweeping her cheek. "Maybe I'm still trying to understand how this wonderful woman — this wonderful, beautiful, intelligent woman — said yes to having dinner with me. Again!"

The shimmer in her eyes from when he first saw her returned and a small smile graced her features. Before he knew it she started chuckling and then burst into full laughs. She wiped away at tears that threatened to spill over. He too laughed at how crazy things got and because she looked so damn beautiful when he laughed that he'd do just about anything to keep it going.

"Oh, we're something, aren't we Andy?" Sharon said as she headed towards the door. "Must be crazy. I really don't know what to expect with us."

"Eh, I expect a good dinner, definitely more laughs because I like it when you laugh, and maybe, another kiss?" Andy was being hopeful.

"Now that…sounds like a plan." She opened the door and headed out in the hallway. "Maybe in the middle of that good dinner we'll find a way to talk about us, and how crazy we are. Come, we don't want to be late now, do we?"

"No, ma'am!" Nothing could wipe the grin on his face as she laughed.


End file.
